# Music on radio now being censored **URL:** \ **Category:** Cafe Society\ **Created:** [September 18, 2001, 3:00pm UTC](https://boards.straightdope.com/t/music-on-radio-now-being-censored/82390 "2001-09-18T15:00:28Z")\ **Posts on this page:** 20\ **Page:** 2
**Author:** ![Geek\_Mecha](https://avatars.discourse-cdn.com/v4/letter/g/ecae2f/32.png) [@Geek\_Mecha](https://boards.straightdope.com/u/Geek_Mecha)\ **Post date:** [September 18, 2001, 10:45pm UTC](https://boards.straightdope.com/t/music-on-radio-now-being-censored/82390/21 "2001-09-18T22:45:29Z")
> [@](#): > > \*Originally posted by KarlGrenze \* > \*\*Is there some site that can explain to me why they censored this songs?: > > Barenaked Ladies “Falling for the First Time” > \*\* I was gonna say… you have to be making some totally reaching interpretations of the [song](http://www.barenaked.net/maroon.html) to find anything objectionable in it. [sub](The lyrics for _FFTFT_ are not linked to at the top of the page, but they are printed after the lyrics for _Go Home_.)[/sub] ---
**Author:** ![lee](https://sea3.discourse-cdn.com/straightdope/user_avatar/boards.straightdope.com/lee/32/7455_2.png) [@lee](https://boards.straightdope.com/u/lee)\ **Post date:** [September 18, 2001, 11:10pm UTC](https://boards.straightdope.com/t/music-on-radio-now-being-censored/82390/22 "2001-09-18T23:10:27Z")
[http://www.summer.com.br/~pfilho/html/lyrics/n/night\_chicago\_died.txt](http://www.summer.com.br/~pfilho/html/lyrics/n/night_chicago_died.txt) Why is this song on the list? We should be so lucky to win this battle against those that would war against the forces of the law. ---
**Author:** ![MsWhatsit](https://avatars.discourse-cdn.com/v4/letter/m/eb8c5e/32.png) [@MsWhatsit](https://boards.straightdope.com/u/MsWhatsit)\ **Post date:** [September 18, 2001, 11:15pm UTC](https://boards.straightdope.com/t/music-on-radio-now-being-censored/82390/23 "2001-09-18T23:15:24Z")
For the last time, nobody is warring against the forces of the law. The company in question has issued NO LIST OF BANNED SONGS. I am sorry to keep repeating this, but apparently some people are not reading the entire thread. ---
**Author:** ![Chas.E](https://avatars.discourse-cdn.com/v4/letter/c/e99b99/32.png) [@Chas.E](https://boards.straightdope.com/u/Chas.E)\ **Post date:** [September 18, 2001, 11:51pm UTC](https://boards.straightdope.com/t/music-on-radio-now-being-censored/82390/24 "2001-09-18T23:51:06Z")
OK, I’ll accept that there is no order from ClearChannel censoring songs. But the document must have originated somewhere, I suspect that some local station created the list without any directive from above. ---
**Author:** ![Daowajan](https://avatars.discourse-cdn.com/v4/letter/d/3bc359/32.png) [@Daowajan](https://boards.straightdope.com/u/Daowajan)\ **Post date:** [September 19, 2001, 12:02am UTC](https://boards.straightdope.com/t/music-on-radio-now-being-censored/82390/25 "2001-09-19T00:02:24Z")
> [@](#): > > \*Originally posted by Guinastasia \* > \*\*I have two mp3s of it-the original and a live version with Bono speaking out against the violence and saying, “Fuck the revolution! Is it the glory when men are killed in front of their families?” > > Dammit, Bono ROCKS!!!\*\* He sure as hell does!!! I have the live version with him yelling “Fuck the Revolution” too - it’s one of the best live versions I’ve ever heard. Weren’t we all singing “Sunday Bloody Sunday” in here the other day? Which is what bothers me the most about that short list of songs. Any one of those could actually offer comfort or solace at a time like this. ---
**Author:** ![Daowajan](https://avatars.discourse-cdn.com/v4/letter/d/3bc359/32.png) [@Daowajan](https://boards.straightdope.com/u/Daowajan)\ **Post date:** [September 19, 2001, 12:04am UTC](https://boards.straightdope.com/t/music-on-radio-now-being-censored/82390/26 "2001-09-19T00:04:56Z")
Dammit! I should read the entire thread next time. But for what it’s worth, Bono STILL rocks! ---
**Author:** ![Derleth](https://avatars.discourse-cdn.com/v4/letter/d/b9e5f3/32.png) [@Derleth](https://boards.straightdope.com/u/Derleth)\ **Post date:** [September 19, 2001, 12:25am UTC](https://boards.straightdope.com/t/music-on-radio-now-being-censored/82390/27 "2001-09-19T00:25:08Z")
> [@](#): > > \*Originally posted by Chas.E \* > \*\*OK, I’ll accept that there is no order from ClearChannel censoring songs. But the document must have originated somewhere, I suspect that some local station created the list without any directive from above. \*\* [Here’s the link again.](http://www.snopes2.com/inboxer/hoaxes/radio.htm) Read the link. Clear Channel Communications released a list of songs they _ **suggested stations think twice before playing.** _ It was an internal memo giving suggestions, not a policy. It is completely up to local stations which songs they play. ---
**Author:** ![Jeremy\_s\_Evil\_Twin](https://avatars.discourse-cdn.com/v4/letter/j/bbe5ce/32.png) [@Jeremy\_s\_Evil\_Twin](https://boards.straightdope.com/u/Jeremy_s_Evil_Twin)\ **Post date:** [September 19, 2001, 12:42am UTC](https://boards.straightdope.com/t/music-on-radio-now-being-censored/82390/28 "2001-09-19T00:42:57Z")
Somebody needs to tell whoever made this list that “Suicide Solution” is by **Ozzy Osbourne** , not Black Sabbath. ---
**Author:** ![Legomancer](https://avatars.discourse-cdn.com/v4/letter/l/779978/32.png) [@Legomancer](https://boards.straightdope.com/u/Legomancer)\ **Post date:** [September 19, 2001, 12:52am UTC](https://boards.straightdope.com/t/music-on-radio-now-being-censored/82390/29 "2001-09-19T00:52:58Z")
> [@](#): > > \*Originally posted by KarlGrenze \* > \*\*Is there some site that can explain to me why they censored this songs?: > > Bangles “Walk Like an Egyptian” > Alanis Morissette “Ironic” > Barenaked Ladies “Falling for the First Time” > U2 “Sunday Bloody Sunday” > Alien Ant Farm “Smooth Criminal” (interesting, the Michael Jackson version is not banned) > > Pd. Hey **Ariadne** , exactly what article where you talking about? \*\* The Alanis song talks about a man dying in a plane crash. The Barenaked Ladies song has the word “Falling” in the title. There are other songs on the list that indicate “Falling” was a listable offense. ---
**Author:** ![Chas.E](https://avatars.discourse-cdn.com/v4/letter/c/e99b99/32.png) [@Chas.E](https://boards.straightdope.com/u/Chas.E)\ **Post date:** [September 19, 2001, 1:05am UTC](https://boards.straightdope.com/t/music-on-radio-now-being-censored/82390/30 "2001-09-19T01:05:42Z")
> [@](#): > > \*Originally posted by Derleth \* > \*\*Read the link. Clear Channel Communications released a list of songs they _ **suggested stations think twice before playing.** _ It was an internal memo giving suggestions, not a policy. It is completely up to local stations which songs they play. \*\* There’s nothing that even hints at this in the official ClearChannel press release from their website. They flatly deny any censorship took place. However, in light of the new statement attributed to ClearChannel on Snopes, I withdraw my remark. Yes, ClearChannel IS censoring its affiliates playlists. Any time your corporate HQ “suggests” something like this, the affiliates will interpret it as an official policy. ---
**Author:** ![Derleth](https://avatars.discourse-cdn.com/v4/letter/d/b9e5f3/32.png) [@Derleth](https://boards.straightdope.com/u/Derleth)\ **Post date:** [September 19, 2001, 1:15am UTC](https://boards.straightdope.com/t/music-on-radio-now-being-censored/82390/31 "2001-09-19T01:15:51Z")
> [@](#): > > [http://www.snopes2.com/inboxer/hoaxes/radio.htm](http://www.snopes2.com/inboxer/hoaxes/radio.htm) > > Clear Channel Radio has not banned any songs from any of its radio stations. > Given the environment, a Clear Channel program director took it upon himself to identify a number of songs that certain markets or individuals may find insensitive today. This was not a mandate, nor was the list generated out of the corporate radio offices. It was a grassroots effort that was apparently circulated among program directors. My mistake. It wasn’t a list circulated from the top down. It was grassroots. > [@](#): > > _Posted by Chas.E_: > Any time your corporate HQ “suggests” something like this, the affiliates will interpret it as an official policy. Defend this statement, please. ---
**Author:** ![lee](https://sea3.discourse-cdn.com/straightdope/user_avatar/boards.straightdope.com/lee/32/7455_2.png) [@lee](https://boards.straightdope.com/u/lee)\ **Post date:** [September 19, 2001, 1:26am UTC](https://boards.straightdope.com/t/music-on-radio-now-being-censored/82390/32 "2001-09-19T01:26:08Z")
> [@](#): > > \*Originally posted by MsWhatsit \* > \*\*For the last time, nobody is warring against the forces of the law. \*\* And what do you think terrorism is? ---
**Author:** ![KellyM](https://avatars.discourse-cdn.com/v4/letter/k/57b2e6/32.png) [@KellyM](https://boards.straightdope.com/u/KellyM)\ **Post date:** [September 19, 2001, 1:30am UTC](https://boards.straightdope.com/t/music-on-radio-now-being-censored/82390/33 "2001-09-19T01:30:28Z")
> [@](#): > > \*Originally posted by MsWhatsit \* > **This story is apparently false. Check out [http://www.clearchannel.com/timages/article/Playlist-final.doc](http://www.clearchannel.com/timages/article/Playlist-final.doc) – it’s a statement by ClearChannel that they have not, in fact, issued a banned list, or any other kind of list of music that is not to be played.** I believe that qualifies as “spin”. And you appear to have been spun quite nicely. The “official” story is that the list is a list of “suggested bans”. It seems quite clear that ClearChannel intends, or at least intended, to place a don’t-play notation on at least some songs, including some, if not all, of the songs mentioned in the OP, and it is quite reasonable for us to discuss whether such an action is warranted, either on a case by case basis or as a whole, notwithstanding whether they actually go through with it or not. ---
**Author:** ![MsWhatsit](https://avatars.discourse-cdn.com/v4/letter/m/eb8c5e/32.png) [@MsWhatsit](https://boards.straightdope.com/u/MsWhatsit)\ **Post date:** [September 19, 2001, 1:50am UTC](https://boards.straightdope.com/t/music-on-radio-now-being-censored/82390/34 "2001-09-19T01:50:37Z")
> [@](#): > > \*Originally posted by KellyM \* > > I believe that qualifies as “spin”. And you appear to have been spun quite nicely. > > The “official” story is that the list is a list of “suggested bans”. It seems quite clear that ClearChannel intends, or at least intended, to place a don’t-play notation on at least some songs, including some, if not all, of the songs mentioned in the OP, and it is quite reasonable for us to discuss whether such an action is warranted, either on a case by case basis or as a whole, notwithstanding whether they actually go through with it or not. “Spun”? At the time I posted earlier, I hadn’t seen the Snopes link that says that the list did actually originate from a ClearChannel employee. All I had seen was the statement given by ClearChannel, which makes NO MENTION of ANY LIST, which is exactly what I said. I would have to call this “lied to”, not “spun”. I apologize for misleading anyone, but that was not my intention; as I said, when I posted earlier all I knew was what had been posted officially by ClearChannel, which made no mention of any list and said that no songs had been banned. > [@](#): > > _Originally posted by lee_ > > And what do you think terrorism is? Again, my apologies. On re-reading the thread, I see that your post about warring against the forces of law was referring to the terrorists, not to ClearChannel. I misinterpreted the first time I read it. Sorry. I’m going to go hide in a closet now until I can learn to post correct information. Sorry, everyone. ---
**Author:** ![Abundibot](https://avatars.discourse-cdn.com/v4/letter/a/45deac/32.png) [@Abundibot](https://boards.straightdope.com/u/Abundibot)\ **Post date:** [September 19, 2001, 2:18am UTC](https://boards.straightdope.com/t/music-on-radio-now-being-censored/82390/35 "2001-09-19T02:18:37Z")
hehe… they sooo missed “Life During Wartime” by Talking Heads… and I don’t think they could really play anything from Pink Floyd’s The Wall if that’s how they feel. And Battle of Evermore by Zeppelin is about war and all that nasty stuff much more than Stairway is. It’s especially a shame because the operator of 60% of rock radio has now betrayed its lack of knowledge of the genre. - Jon ---
**Author:** ![Chas.E](https://avatars.discourse-cdn.com/v4/letter/c/e99b99/32.png) [@Chas.E](https://boards.straightdope.com/u/Chas.E)\ **Post date:** [September 19, 2001, 4:12am UTC](https://boards.straightdope.com/t/music-on-radio-now-being-censored/82390/36 "2001-09-19T04:12:33Z")
> [@](#): > > \*Originally posted by Derleth \* > \*\* > > > [@](#): > > > > _Posted by Chas.E_: > > Any time your corporate HQ “suggests” something like this, the affiliates will interpret it as an official policy. > > Defend this statement, please. \*\* You just defended it for me. Lower level ClearChannel employees interpreted the “suggestions” as mandatory. I can tell you haven’t ever worked in a huge megacorporation with HQ in a different city. I used to get lots of “suggestions” from Corp HQ all the time. They were ALL mandatory. That’s how they do things. ---
**Author:** ![riserius1](https://avatars.discourse-cdn.com/v4/letter/r/7ab992/32.png) [@riserius1](https://boards.straightdope.com/u/riserius1)\ **Post date:** [September 19, 2001, 4:57am UTC](https://boards.straightdope.com/t/music-on-radio-now-being-censored/82390/37 "2001-09-19T04:57:57Z")
> [@](#): > > \*Originally posted by KarlGrenze \* > \*\*Thanks, **tlw**. So, why is Louis Armstrong “It’s a wonderful world” banned? If I remember well, it was a happy song, right? \*\* Yes, but it was used in “Good Morning, VietNam” as background music for a montage of the vietnamese countryside being blown up. Could be construed as a “Negative” connotation. If yer paranoid, that is. Chris W ---
**Author:** ![lee](https://sea3.discourse-cdn.com/straightdope/user_avatar/boards.straightdope.com/lee/32/7455_2.png) [@lee](https://boards.straightdope.com/u/lee)\ **Post date:** [September 19, 2001, 5:08pm UTC](https://boards.straightdope.com/t/music-on-radio-now-being-censored/82390/38 "2001-09-19T17:08:23Z")
> **[THE POP LIFE; After the Horror, Radio Stations Pull Some Songs (Published 2001)](https://www.nytimes.com/2001/09/19/arts/the-pop-life-after-the-horror-radio-stations-pull-some-songs.html)** > > Clear Channel Communications, Texas-based company that owns about 1,170 radio stations nationwide, circulates list of 150 songs and asks its stations to avoid playing them because of attacks on the World Trade Center and Pentagon; some listed songs... The New York Times has a good article on this. ---
**Author:** ![RealityChuck](https://sea3.discourse-cdn.com/straightdope/user_avatar/boards.straightdope.com/realitychuck/32/195_2.png) [@RealityChuck](https://boards.straightdope.com/u/RealityChuck)\ **Post date:** [September 19, 2001, 5:59pm UTC](https://boards.straightdope.com/t/music-on-radio-now-being-censored/82390/39 "2001-09-19T17:59:09Z")
Why is this a big deal? Are you arguing that Clear Channel should continue to play songs that upset people by reminding them of the disaster? Wouldn’t people be even more outraged if they did that? Isn’t it simply a matter of good taste to refrain from playing songs that remind people of such terrible pain? Granted some of the choices are silly (censorship lists always are), but is it all that unusual for people to become angry or offended for silly reasons? What’s wrong with avoiding that? When Fox decided not to show “Independence Day” last Sunday, was that censorship? Were you protesting then? Finally, the songs aren’t “censored.” The stations don’t want to ban them from the airwaves. They just want to stop playing them while the memory of this is still fresh. In a few months, nearly all of the songs will be back. ---
**Author:** ![DannoDownstairs](https://avatars.discourse-cdn.com/v4/letter/d/9de0a6/32.png) [@DannoDownstairs](https://boards.straightdope.com/u/DannoDownstairs)\ **Post date:** [September 20, 2001, 3:56am UTC](https://boards.straightdope.com/t/music-on-radio-now-being-censored/82390/40 "2001-09-20T03:56:02Z")
I did a quick search [http://www.google.com/search?q=clear+channel+150+songs](http://www.google.com/search?q=clear+channel+150+songs) and there appear to be far too many seemingly legitimate links there for this to have been anything but a top-down mandatate, um, I mean ‘suggestion’. As I read through the list of not-quite-banned songs, my first thought was “You mean there are places where Clear Channel actually played some of this stuff?” My second thought was all the songs they missed. Since it appears that not a lot of thought went into the Clear Channel list, I’m going to take some liberties on my own list… “Wave of Mutilation” - The Pixies “Dead Set on Destruction” - (forgot the original artist, but I have a cover by Trip Shakespeare) “Waitress in the Sky” - The Replacements “Shoot’m Down” - Morphine “The Only Flame in Town” - Elvis Costello “Disintegration” - The Cure “Push the Little Daisies” - Ween “Kung Fu Fighting” - Village People Those were the first that popped to mind… [Previous page](https://boards.straightdope.com/t/music-on-radio-now-being-censored/82390.md?page=1) [Next page](https://boards.straightdope.com/t/music-on-radio-now-being-censored/82390.md?page=3)